Connections and Neighbors

Modesto and Empire Traction Company

The Modesto and Empire Traction Company, like the Tidewater Southern, grew from a desire for an alternative to the Southern Pacific Railroad.  The city of Modesto had been served only by the SP since the late 1870's. The Santa Fe Railway had purchased the San Francisco and San Joaquin Railroad in the 1880's.  This line paralleled the Southern Pacific through the San Joaquin Valley, but its closest approach to Modesto was the town of Empire, 5 miles east.

On March 23, 1909, the Modesto Interurban Railway was organized to build 5 miles of main line between Modesto and Empire.  As the Tidewater was building at that time, it was immediately interested in the new railroad and acquired a lease on the property.  For a brief period in 1911, the Tidewater operated a motor passenger car over the MI line as part of the lease terms, but regular service was never established and the lease soon terminated.

On October 7, 1911, the Modesto and Empire Traction Company was incorporated to become the operating company for the Modesto Interurban Railway.  Scheduled passenger service between Modesto and Empire began on November 1, 1911, using an old second-hand coach.  Freight business, however, proved to be the MET's prime business, leading to the end of passenger service in 1917.

In 1918, MET President T. K. Beard proposed that the Tidewater join the MET in creating a industrial terminal area for the two roads just south of downtown Modesto. In 1920, the area was placed under the control of the Modesto Terminal Company, an affiliate of the MET, but was jointly operated by both roads. This arrangement would last until 1958, when the MET took over sole operation. By 1922, an interchange was also established with the Southern Pacific in Modesto.

The M&ET began to dieselize in 1947 with the delivery of GE 70 tonner 600.  The locomotive proved to be an ideal match for the company's physical plant and mode of operation.  Steam was gone by the mid 1950's and, as traffic grew, second hand 70 tonners joined the road's original fleet of three.  The road's formula of continuing development of the huge industrial park owned by the railroad's parent company has proven wildly successful.  At times the M&ET has boasted that it is the most profitable railroad, per mile, in the US.

Today, some 28 miles of track serve the Beard Industrial District, the main focus of the railroad.  A much smaller group of industries is located in the Modesto Terminal District formerly shared with the TS.  The third area of traffic is the Valley Transload located next to the Burlington Northern Santa Fe interchange in Empire.  The greatest concentration of trackage is in the Beard District, with the mainline running along the north edge of the district, while a second mainline loops along the south side, both bridged by cross lines and two separate north-south yards. In total, there are nearly 40 miles of main line, yard and spur trackage.  Following a rebuilding of the M&ET interchange with the former SP line through Modesto, SP and TS successor Union Pacific finally retired the TS Ninth Street line in late 1999.  The present Modesto interchange is solely with the former SP Fresno line (accessed with track down the middle of B Street), while Santa Fe successor BNSF still connects in Empire.

The current motive power fleet consists of ten General Electric 70 tonners and still includes first diesel 600.  All are maintained at the M&ET's shops on McClure Road in the heart of the Beard District.  The shop carries out regular repair, rebuilding and repainting of the vintage GEs, upgrading them and providing the road with a "modern" fleet of 50 year old locomotives.

M&ET provides service to some 50 customers, including Brake Parts Inc., Bunge Foods, Continental PET, Del Monte, E & J Gallo Winery, Frito-Lay, Georgia-Pacific, International Paper, Liquid Container, Nestle, Sierra Pacific Distribution, Signature Fruit Company, Stanislaus Food Products Company, Watkins Shepard, and Weyerhaeuser.